1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a POS (point of sales) terminal device, and more specifically to a POS terminal device for reading bar codes attached on commodities by a scanner for registration processing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are POS (point of sales) terminal devices provided with PLU (price look-up) function. The PLU function implies that a PLU file including PLU codes (commodity identification codes) and various data (e.g. prices) related to commodities corresponding to PLU codes is previously stored in an external memory; and whenever commodities are sold, price information related to sold commodities are read from the PLU file for registration by only reading the PLU codes by a scanner.
In these POS terminal device, in case the unit or the memory which stores the PLU file is abnormal or develops trouble, it is impossible to implement registration processing. In particular, when no price labels are attached to commodities, since the operator (clerk) should go to shelves to check prices of commodities, it is impossible, in practice, to continue the registration processing; that is, the store is closed.
To overcome these problems, in usual, two PLU files are provided so that when one unit or one memory for storing one PLU file is in trouble, the POS terminal device is automatically switch to the other unit or the other memory for storing the other PLU file. However, the above-mentioned countermeasures are not yet satisfactory from the store side, thus there exists a strong demand for further improved countermeasures for safety.